The Poultry Keeper

adamntitch · Joined: 30 Nov 2007 Posts: 51 Location: edinburgh

say i got given a piglet or lamb to rear in my house is that allowed or not like from a friend

nigel · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject:

To have any livestock you would need a CPH [agricultural holding] number issued by Defra.

I don't suppose it's impossible to get one for a private dwelling though. Gordon Ramsey in the f-word had pigs and sheep in his back garden

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1613 Location: Clawddnewydd

There's no Law that I know of to stop you having something like that. There is, however, a whole heap of red tape and hoops to jump through!! You will need to have the lamb double tagged at place of departure, fill in a movement licence and post one of the pages (white one) off to your Trading Standards Office within 3 days of the movement. You will not be allowed to move the lamb off your premises again for another 6 days (or, should you have any more sheep/cows/goats, any of them for 6 days) You must keep your movement docs for at least 6 months and have a medicine book to write down anything you give it, you must be registered with a vet practice that can deal with large animals and tell your local Animal Health that you now have a lamb and who your vet practice is. If the lamb loses one of its tag, you must replace it with an identical tag (contact whoever you got it from for one) or replace BOTH tags with 2 more identical tags of your own (so you will need a County Parish Holding number and a UK flock number from Animal Health in order to order tags. There is a minimum amount of tags you can order, usually 50.......) The replacement tags need to be noted down in your Annual Flock Movements Book (again from Animal Health)

Getting cold feet yet? Laughing

I've absolutely no idea what the regs are with regards to piglets....... I'm sure some kindly soul will do their best to dissuade you of the notion to keep pigs too Wink

Chris Kurzfeld · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 1379 Location: Carmarthenshire

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7145 Location: isle of lewis

ahh but 1 in a garden isn't a good idea ,animals need company ,and sheep really should be grazed on different patches ,could you divide your garden up into 2 or 3, there are people who sort of adopt a lunch i think you can visit and watch how they are grown i know that someone does it on another site ,maybe that would be an idea for you ,bb you forgot your visitor book and don't forget the new waste exemption regs ,which would be a problem in a small space Rolling Eyes

manure is a major problem ,they larger the area you have really the easier it all is ,wormer for us is expensive as we only have a few
(ps there are days that i hate sheep,ours where sheared yesterday by us ,now they need worming ,fluking ,colbolting and a jab for scab which is on the increase as a lot of people aren't dipping or jabbing and meds are not cheap )

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1613 Location: Clawddnewydd

Chris Kurzfeld · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 1379 Location: Carmarthenshire

Mine being pet sheep I don't have your problems - I do keep my own book of records - which tag for which sheep, any medicines given and when, also tupping records so I know when lambs are due/born., plus the ones that went to slaughter. I also record when sprayed for fly strike. My lambs are due their 2nd heptivac next week too but mine are well trained Laughing

, they follow me into the shelter (after a bucket of food Very Happy

) and OH grabs whilst I jab - trying to miss him Shocked

, but I've only got 4 to do. BT vaccine isn't available here yet! Haven't been bothered with DEFRA too much, just a form to fill once a year and send off forms for movement of ram (when I bought him) and the 3 to the slaughterhouse. Mind you next year, when i sell on the ram, that may all change!!!!

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1613 Location: Clawddnewydd

I hate to bang on about this but pet sheep or not, you must be registered with your Animal Health to keep sheep (I'm sure that you are, just saying for the benefit of those who are thinking about getting some sheep/pigs/cattle etc Very Happy

"you" being the generic "you", not you personally!! Embarassed

). If not, you are breaking the law. You must keep all the records that MM and I have stated and have them up to date and available for inspection at any time. This is crucial for any notifiable disease outbreak such as F&M and, currently, Blue Tongue Sad

so all small pockets of susceptible livestock can be accounted for and monitored.
Fortunately, DEFRA dont usually visit, its Animal Health and Trading Standards and, if you are unlucky enough to be claiming SFP, the Enviromental lot Evil or Very Mad

to check you havent cut your hedges yet or cut the grass up to the hedges, havent sited your muckheap near a water course, arent washing your waste water onto the yard where it can make its way into the local water course, are disposing of dip responsibly, havent got stock poaching land as that contravenes the cross compliance for soil management, have a waste management licence for all those silage/haylage wrappers, empty bottles of antibiotics, a sharps box for needles, lockable drugs cupboard and chemical cupboard (you cant burn your muckheap now by the way Rolling Eyes

) or havent topped all those b***dy thistles and docks and nettles Twisted Evil

which the birdies need to survive........yeah right, as if they cant survive on my highly expensive sheep feed and the thousands of midges and flies eating my sheep and cows Laughing

I have to say, I do leave a patch of waste ground full of thistles, docks, nettles and other weeds for the wildlife and some big king thistles in the fields for the finches but everything else is fair game Laughing

Right, rant over until the next inspection Wink

crazywelshchuck · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 95

Hi
I was offered some badger sheep as pets I have just read this thread and had a major rethink !!!!! Shocked

I think I will stick to my horses, and poultry less hassle Tir Gofal forms etc are bad enough and I get loads of paperwork from defra as farm reg and egg packing station for my own free range eggs !!.

We only sell to two shops but had to get farm registered to get traceability number to stamp on eggs if selling any even if only selling from farm. Then if you want to sell eggs to a shop who them sells on you have to send your eggs to a packing station or become registered yourself and pack your own which is what we now do. Which I think is enoguh hassle so noo or should that be BAAAAAAAAAAA sheep for me!!!!

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1613 Location: Clawddnewydd

and here was me thinking it was bad enough keeping sheep and cattle!!! Rolling Eyes

tracey061196 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:26 am Post subject:

Did i just see in one of your messages that you cant burn your animals muck heap now, if yes "why not"

stephen · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:17 am Post subject:

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1613 Location: Clawddnewydd

Magpie · Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 550 Location: Norfolk

Yes, I have to have a set of Agricultural Waste Regulation Exemptions to allow us to do all sorts of things on the nursery;

Burn hedge trimmings etc
Compost anything
Spread the compost on the fields
Store rubbish prior to dumping
Store recyclables prior to sending away
Sort recyclables so they can be sent away!
We are not allowed to send anything off-site without a Waste Transfer Note.

Oh, and our compost heaps have to be more than 10m away from a water course, 100m from a dwelling, not in an NVZ or near a RAMSAR etc etc... I got lost with all the rules and had to get the EA to sort it out for us.

Tim

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1613 Location: Clawddnewydd

Thanks Tim, without going and digging out all my booklets for cross compliance, I couldnt remember all the regs we now have to abide by..... eg I couldnt be sure whether we were or werent allowed to burn hedge trimmings now Rolling Eyes